Tag Archives: history

The Bronze Horseman appeared in St.Petersburg when the city was celebrating its anniversary of 300 years. At that time in the city appereared many different monuments but the most famous was The Bronze Horseman, it was created by sculptor Falkone. In the middle of 18th century Catherine the Great planned to create the monument that will be devoted to the Peter 1, the founder of St.Petersburg city that is why she invited a French sculptor Falkone in Russia.

In 1766 Falkone came to Russia with a visit, he started to work at the model of hourse monument.While the creation of the monument he used a gypsum mask and a wax body of Peter 1. The whole of the monument model took 12 years and it was ready to 1769. The process of work of the monument took place at the territory of previous temporary Winter Palace. In 1769 people observed the installation of the monument, it lasted for several hours every day. The hourses where taken from the Emperor’s horse stable.
The head of the Horseman was created by a student of Falkone Marie-Ann Kollo,she made the head and for her work Catherine 2, gave her a life-long pension. The snake under the leg of the Horseman made Russian sculptor Gordeev. By the plan of sculptor the basement of the monument represent a rock in view of a wave. The shape of the wave remains that exactly Peter 1 lead out Russia to the sea.

By the legend once the rocket was struck by lightning and there appeared a crack. Among people the rocket was called as “Lightning-stone”, it was called the same later when it was based on the Shore of Niva River under the famous monument. Its weight is 1600 tones. So the rocket was delivered to its place for 9 months on the barge.
Actually noone wanted to make the cast of the monument; the foreigners required a lot of money for this work, while Russian masters were scared of the size. At last the caster was found, his name was Emelian Hailov. Together with Falkone he tried to find the best cast, during 3 years he learned the cast technology and in 1774 he started to cast the monument. This technology was very complicated, so the one cast was not enough for the monument. While the first cast the upper part was damaged and it was cut off.
So it took for next three years to continue the work and prepare next cast. In its memory Falkone left a note on the coat of the Horseman. The process of casting was very dangerous and it could arise a huge fire. But Hailov was very responsible and cheerful while work, so nothing has happened at this time.
But to the moment of monument’s installation relationships with Peter 1 were spoiled and there was even gossip that Falkone helped only with technical part, so he was so much offended that didnt wait till the opening of the monument and left Russia together with Marie-Ann Kollo. The installation process was under Gordeev’s management. This even observed Catherine 2 and all St.Petersburg’s society.

So the name of the Bronze Horseman was given to the monument by Pushkin in one of his poems, and this expression became so popular that this name became almost official.
During the Great Patriotic War there was a threaten to move the monument from the city, but it was impossible, moreover citizens were afraid that the monument would be damaged while fascist aviation attacks, so people built a special box, with the height above 14 meters and covered the monument with it.
Luckily this unique monument was not damaged, it was opened at once when the war was over.Nowadays it is the most popular place for just married. So The Bronze Horseman in St.Petersburg is truly the most expressive monument and considered to be the monument of Peter 1, as a symbol of St.Petersburg.
The Bronze Horseman is one of the best monuments in Europe, in its honour Catherine the Great made a coin, where at the one side was placed her portrait and at another the monument. Nowadays it is also a popular place for visitors and especially for just married.

The Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps in St. Petersburg is the largest Military Museum in the world. It is also known as the Museum of Artillery, at the same time it is one of the oldest museums of the city. The creation of the museum started at the same time as the building of St. Petersburg.

The Museum was build by the order of Peter 1, as a place where should be saved unique historical examples of weapon and they should be situated in .In the middle of 19th century the military collection moved in the Peter and Paul Fortress (Petropavlovskaya Krepost). Later it became a museum.

Today in the collection of the Museum are situated for more than 500.000 exhibits, among them are: different artillery technics, military form of different ages, military emblems and flags, medals, work of military art, weapon trophies of Russian army,the largest collection of different small-weapon and cold weapon – from iron arquebus and ancient Slavonic swords to the Kalashnikov gun.

In the museum you can also see the main guns of Peter the Great, a front car that moved artillery flags, military awards of Russian Emperors, private gun of Alexander 1 and Nikolay 2, Napoleon Bonapart,marshal Murrey and many other russian and soviet military captains and commanders. In the museum there is a hall of russian rocket technics – starting with technics of 18th century and till the first nuclear rockets.This exhibition is devoted to Kutuzov, consisted of his things that are situated in a rebuilt room, where he spend his last days of life.

On the 3d floor of the Museum there are exhibits devoted to the Great Patriotic War. But what mostly attracts visitors’ attention is an outter exposition, that was opened in november 2002 after the reconstruction. On the open squares of the territory are situated 250 items of artillery and rocket weapon, engineer technics and technics of communication. Here are represented as the soviet as the foreign weapons – from the ancient to the modern ones.

As the museum was built in 1703, since that times here you can find here the greatest collection – Russian weapons and weapon of many other countries, including experimental examples and private weapon of famous people, uniform, awards, examples of sculpture and oil paintings, models of fortresses, documents and many other. The museum is situated on the territory of Petropavlovskaya Krepost. The inner buildings are decorated in gothic style and the inner court is railed by a brick wall. The main and nearest attracts are Petropavlovskaya Krepost, Alexandrovskiy Park, Leninskiy zoo, the Winter Palace and House of Peter the Great.

Nowadays the Artillery Museum has unique collections of weapons; in its fonds are gathered more than 700.000 items, 215.000 of archives, 100.000 books of military and historical literature, 90.000 of photographic negatives and slides.

Since 1918 the Museum keeps more than 27 regimental sections of Russian Army. The exposition is situated in 13 halls and on the territory of more than 17.000 square kilometers, here are represented the examples of middleaged and modern weapons, rocket systems that are situated on the outter exposition.

During 2002 year in the Museum is opened the exposition “Weapon legends of 20th century”. Here are represented examples of weapon of the legendary constructors, such as, Brawning, Mauzer, Nagan, Kalashnikov and many others. The unique collection allows to follow the development of weapon during 20th century – from guns and rifles of World War First to the modern examples of individual and group small-weapon.

In the Museum are gathered the best collections from Russia and 54 countries of the world, you will be definitely impressed by such a variety. The Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps in St.Petersburgh is a precious place to visit, it will be interesting for people from all over the world. Here you can learn about the historical and cultural life of Russia, France, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden and many other outstanding countries.

Visiting of the oldest Russian Museum will give you not only pleasure, but an opportunity to learn more about age-old military history of Russia and many other countries.

There are more than 200 churches and cathedrals in Saint Petersburg including synagogues, kostels and mosques, most of them are orthodox, it stands to reason. You cannot imagine this city without them; the word ‘Saint’ in the name of it does play a role. The Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul is in top ten of the most beautiful.

The building process was started in 1894 under the guidance of Russian architect Vasiliy Kosyakov and the work was finished in 1904. Its height is about 70 meters; it can seat 800 people under the roof at the same time. The cathedral is surrounded by roofed gallery which has special rooms for consecration of attributes that are used during the Easter. There are a bell gable and a chapel by the main entrance. The doors of the chapel are decorated with arched portal made of blocked stone. The main iconostasis was designed on the same pattern with Grecian, orthodox The St. George church in Venice.

The Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul will blow your mind, and impression which you will get after visiting it is never going to fade. It never became a museum and still works as actual place of worship.

By the end of WWII, Leningrad had pretty much recovered from the consequences of the Siege and raids. Following the Great Victory, the government and city residents continued to sacrifice their lives for the city’s resurrection. Unlike other Soviet cities, Leningrad was restored to its pre-war magnificence. Even completely destroyed buildings, such as the Palace of Peterhof, were reconstructed precisely.

By the 1970s, the city achieved social and economic stability and became one of the world’s greatest tourist attractions. Tourists from the USSR and from abroad, even those from rival countries, flooded the city’s historic blocks, squares, museums, etc.

From the 1970 through the early 1980s the city’s economy was stable. With the advent of the renowned Perestroika reformist policy, the city began to deal with serious economic problems. In the times of total economic, political and social disintegration, followed by the breakup of the Soviet Union, the city slid into chaos and lawlessness.

In 1991, after the city referendum, the city’s Soviet name of Leningrad was changed back to the Germanic St. Petersburg.

Throughout the 1990s, St. Peterburg was dealing with political instability and notoriously high criminal activity. After the turn of the 21st century, some business areas began to show signs of improvement. By now, the city has attracted a substantial amount of foreign capital. Although most industries are still down, and St. Petersburg is behind Moscow and some other industrial cities economically, the city has obtained its own unique economic climate. By the 300th anniversary of its foundation, which was celebrated in 2003, St. Petersburg had undergone a significant renovation. Being one of the world’s biggest tourist attractions, it has become no smaller an attraction for both domestic and foreign hotel business.

During World War I (1914-1918), when everything German would grate on every Russian citizen’s mind and ear, the Russian government decided to change the capital’s name from the Germanic St. Petersburg to the Russian Petrograd. The involvement in the protracted war entailed total militarization of national economy, and contributed to its rapid exhaustion and therefore social and political unrest. By 1916, food supply deteriorated drastically, and the revolutionary process became irreversible. The social disturbance and wartime hardships culminated in the 1917 February Revolution, which ended in the abdication of Nicholas II – the last tsar in the history of Russia.

The situation continued to worsen throughout 1917. The Provisional Government’s ineffective methods resulted in total chaos and discord. On October 25, the socio-democratic Bolshevist party, headed by Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), overthrew the Provisional Government and arrested most of the ministers. The cruiser Avrora fired a blank shot to signal the storm of the Winter Palace.

Economic collapse and the brewing Civil War forced many city residents to leave Petrograd and settle in the countryside where food was more available. By 1920, Petrograd’s population decreased threefold.

Because the Germans were dangerously close to Petrograd and the national boundary got closer to the city due to the collapse of the Empire, Vladimir Lenin moved the capital to Moscow. Many streets and objects in Petrograd were named after famous revolutionary activists and events. Nevsky Prospekt was named Prospekt of October 25. Palace Named after a famous Communist activist, Palace Square became Uritsky Square.

The New Economic Policy instituted after the Civil War contributed to a relative betterment of the situation, and the city began to recover from the recent social, political and economical upheavals.

There are hundreds of great and amazing historical and cultural sights to be seen in the North Capital of Russia, St. Petersburg; one of them is the Botanical Garden. At present, the garden is attached to Botanical Institute of V. L. Komarov and Russian Academy of Sciences, so its full name includes abbreviations of both these organizations. But until 1925 it existed under the name of the Impertorskiy Garden (imperial garden). It was originated as one of pharmaceutical gardens that were created in order to cultivate and collect various medicinal herbs. The garden was rather big, its total area in the beginning of 18th century was more than 270 thousands square meters; it equals almost 38 soccer fields placed one after another. Historical name of the garden was given under Alexander I in 1823. The Botanical garden already contained 15000 different plants in 1823. Currently, the number of plants in the collection has reduced comparing to its state in the 19th century and it equals about 7.500. It was caused by consequences of the Second World War, after bombing slightly more than 200 examples were saved. The area which is occupied by the garden also became smaller than it used to be and now approximately equals ten thousand square meters.

Nowadays different excursions for all comers take place in the Botanical Garden such as “Aqueous Plants” or “Plants from tropical areas of the Earth”. They depend on season. Also the garden provides special educational excursions for students. To sum up, at the present the time Imperatorskiy Garden is a historical sight of St. Petersburg and precious scientific facility which contains lots of important material for scientists from all over the world. So, this place is especially recommended for people who interested in botany and for all nature-lovers as well.

The summer garden or “Letniy Sad” how it is actually pronounced in the original is the oldest garden of the cultural capital of Russia, St. Petersburg. It dates from the first quarter of 18th century. The building process started in 1704 and took 15 years to complete. Bounds of the garden were determined, land was reclamated, ponds were made, a dike over Fontanka River was built during these years etc. Peter I the Great ordered to lay the park and approved the primary plan of it, which corresponded to the style of Dutch Baroque. For the first time in St. Petersburg fountains were set just in the Summer Garden. Peter the Great brought them from Italy along with sculptures and in order to provide water he built the Ligovskiy channel of many kilometers.

At the time of Peter I the Summer Garden was closed for public and no one could enter the garden without an invitation. It was initially established as a summer residence of the monarch. The daughter of the latter in time of her governing made the garden opened for citizens that were pleasantly dressed. After the flood of 1777 the fountains were destroyed and it was decided not to restore them.

In 1839 Karl XIV, the Swedish Monarch, gave a porphyritic vase to Russian Emperor Nikolay the First as a token of a goodwill which was made at king’s manufacture in Elfdalen and since then it became a part of the gardens embellishments. In 2008 some comers noticed a crack on the vase and the information got in all mass media. However specialist said that there is no danger in the micro crack but it split into two pieces. After the accident and because of anxiety about vandalism the administration of the Summer Garden thought of copying statues that are in the garden and send originals in storage, placing video cameras across it and reconstruction of the whole park.

The Tauride Garden came into existence along with the Tauride Palace, which was built in 1783-1789. This architectural complex became a memorial in honor of Russia’s victories in various wars at the end of the 18th century.

The garden was planned and designed by an English gardener William Gould. In place of Samoroyka River builders dug two ponds that were connected by canals with each other. The ponds were filled with water from the Ligovskiy Channel and fish.

In the South part of the big pond two islands were created and one of them was planted with trees. In the North a high hill was built with ground that was left after the digging. The islands were connected by two bridges, one of which was made by Ivan Kulibin. He designed this bridge earlier for Neva River but it wasn’t mounted then, so Kulibin used the same construction but ten times smaller for the garden (in 1816 it was dismantled in order to free a way for water transport).

At the second half of the 19th century the Tauride Garden was opened for public. A little bit later during winters a skating-rink and slides were frequently visited by citizens. At the time of the Second World War plenty of bombs were dropped on the streets of St. Petersburg, the Tauride Garden couldn’t escape. Right after the siege kitchen gardens of children’s hospitals were placed on the territory of the park. Not long after reconstruction works were started under the guidance of Russian architect D. Goldgor. The process was finished in 1958. Since 1960s the garden was actively used as a place for organization of children’s leisure, therefore lots of sports classes, various clubs were organized. So, later the park needed the second reconstruction which occurred at the end of the 20th century and lasted 4 years until 2001.

Nowadays Tauride Garden is a historical monument that attracts lots of people every day by its beauty.

Peterhof (Petrodvorets) is a country residence of russian emprerors located in 29 kilometers from St. Petersburg, Russia. Peterhof is called a “capital of fountains”. There is a wonderful view you can observe when you are coming to Peterhof from the sea side: a huge Palace is situated at the higest point of 16 meters terrace.A huge cascade sparkles with golden sculptures and silver fountain streams at her slope.

In the middle of the water basin and in front of the casacde there is a fountain named “Samson”, further the water goes to the Gulf. The Gulf is the one of the oldest buildings in Peterhof, it was created by Peter 1 and was built in 1715 during the building of Upper Gardens. The Gulf became transport artillery and a front entrance in Peterhof, but when in 1735 the Samson Fountain was built in the centre of the basin, it got complicated to use the Gulf.

Peter 1 suggested to built 22 fountains, that could look like in the stories of Aesop, with sculptures along the Gulf. But later it was decided to make the fountains in a view of vases. In 1854-1860 the old vases were removed and there were left 14 fountains.Now their powerful streams creat a huge connonade that leads to the Great Cascade. The Gulf is considered to be one of the best attracts of the Peterhof, known for its beauty. It is decorated with granite and gold, but moreover the Gulf depicts an artistic and georaphical connection between the residence and the water.

The Gulf divides the Park into two parts: the eastern and western. In the eastern part there are situated many splendid attracts, such as: “Monplaisir”, “Rome Fountains”, “Pyramid Fountains”, “A chess mountain”, “The Sun”. In the western there are situated the “Hermitage”, “Marly Palace”, a “cascade Golden Mountain”.
Peter 1 chose this place for building of Peterhof because while his researches in the surroundings he found several water streams, that is how the creation of water system was given to Vasiliy Tuvolkov to charge over the building. Tuvolkov was a russian master educated in Holland and France.

In 1721 under the guidance of Tuvolkov were built channels and sluice-gates,by them from Ropshinskie visoty water moved by itself to the Upper Gardens basins, so that is why here it was possible to built only small fountains, though in the Lower Park,that was situated in the foot of the terrace, the water moved from the 16 meters height down to the basin of the Upper Garden and fell down with lots of streams making a huge fountain the park.
Nowadays is still greatly appreciated the talent of Peter 1, who found all the water resources, the water system works till now that tells us about his skills.

Peterhof is also known not only by its fountains, but also by a great quantity of Palaces and Museums. Museums are situated as on the territory of the Lower Park and above it. The Hermitage is situated in the eastern part of the Lower Park on the seaside of the Gulf. In terms of french language The Hermitage means – “a hut of a desert-dweller”. The front appearance of the Hermitage is depicted in its elegance. Its building started in 1721 by the order of Peter 1.

The Marly Palace is another beautiful building and a near gorgeous Marly Basin looks like a huge mirror that is divided into 4 sections. Building of the Marly Basin and its ponds started in 1719-1720. At first it was built as a one floor building, but by the order of Peter 1, there was added one more floor that gave the building an amazing balance.
The Great Palace is the largest and the most famous building in Peterhof, it is situated in the very center of the park. Near the Great Palace is situated the Great Basin, it is a balanced building built with three floors with galleries and with golden domes that stretches for almost 300 meters.

The look of the Great Palace today is a result of repairing and transformation of the building during 2 centuries. The Cottage Palace – is an architecture building of Alexandria Park in Petrodvorets. It is located on the Upper terrace in the south-eastern part of the park. From here you can observe the Finland Gulf and St.Petersburg surroundings. It was built in 1826-1829 by the project of Menelas architect in a gothic style.
14 September of 1947 is a historical moment in Peterhof, in front of the Great Cascade took its place golden bronze figures of Lions with open mouth. Peterhof impresses with its architecture, sculpter, harmony, art and nature.

The Alexander Column – is a monument on the Palace Square of St.Petersburg made in Empire Style and considered to be one of the symbols of the city.The column is devoted to the victory of Alexander 1, the monument was built in his honour and have his name.

Before the project Rossi planned to locate the monument in the middle of the square. But his suggested variant of horse statue of Peter 1 was not acceptable for him, so this place was free untill 1829 when the Emperor Nikolay made a contest on the best project to his brother Alexander 1, in which participated a famous french architect Monferran.

His first project was not accepted, though he decided not to give up. According to wishes of Nikolay 1, he changed his project of an obelisk for a column, and as an example he took a famous look of Trajan column in Rome.

The height of the new monument is impressive, and leaves behind many prototypes in the world, and the usage in a column as a stem a piece of granite was only at the period of project was a strong provocation in the engineering.So Monferran won on 24 september in 1829 when his project was approved.

So started a long and hard work, on the place of the column was a basin with depth of 4 meters, and during 3 months there were driven in more than 1250 piles of 6 meters. The next layer they were covered with was granite blocks with width of half a meter.

In one of the central blocks was put a casket full of coins medals made in honourof Alexander 1, and also with a memorable note about the start of the building. On the fundament was installed a huge onument with weight 400 tones as a basement of pedestal. So while the installation was also used an original water mixture of soap and vodka, vodka helped cement to hold better on frosts and addition of soap the monument was easier to move taking lesser efforts.

So when on the monuments were installed the upper parts of the pedestal, the first preparation works were over. While on the Palalce Square were building works on the shores of Gulf of Finland workers under the leadership of Yakovleva and Kolodkina were preparing future steam of the Alexander Column.

For transportation of the steam was built a special boat named “Saint Nikolay”, on which 1 july 1832 the monument arrived to the shores of the Palace. But the most complicated part of works was still ahead.

Under the leadership of Betankura were made special building forests were installed a system of blocks and 60 capstans. In 1832 among thousands of people and members of Emperor Family, the column was installed. This hard operation took 1 hour 45 minutes and required almost 2.500 workers and soldiers.

Works of the decoration of the monument lasted for more tahn 2 years. On the very top of the column was installed a fugure of an angel, that was work of sculptor Orlovskiy, in his left hand angel hold a cross, and his look was turned to the earth. So the Emperor family wished to add to his face features of Alexander 1, and on the pedestal was also added military bards, weapon and fugures of: Victory, Fame, Charity, Justice, Wisdom and Wealth.

Four parts of pedestal are decorated with bronze high relieves, which were made by sculptors Svinzov and Leppe. On relieves from the side of the Main Office is depicted a figure of Victory that brings into a history memorable dates: 1812, 1813, 1814.

From the side of Winter Palace – there are two figures with wings and a note: “To Alexander 1, Grateful Russia”. There was a legend that people were still afraid to walk under the column, they were afraid that column would fall because it wasnt fixed and hold only by its own weight.

So by this reason every morning Monferran walked with his dog under the monument,by this way he tried to disperse fears of people.

In reality the Alexander Column is a personification of victory of kindness over evil, an allegory of peace that came in Europe after victory of Russian army over Napoleon. This Great Column made by Monferran even better than a Trajan Column in Rome and Vandomskaya Column in Paris.

The Alexander Column was even praised in a poem “Monument” written by the greatest Russian poet Alexaner Sergeevich Pushkin.